Lunchtime Tubaticisms! I HUNGER TO WRITE TO YOU!

++ Spoiler Crying- There's been alot of concern about spoilers lately, especially concerning Mass Effect 2.

Stop it.

For one thing, if you didn't want to know stuff about things, you wouldn't be on the internet section devoted to stuff about things. If it means that much to you, take your own precautions and go dark until you finish. Stop being a victim, I implore you.

Second off, if the execution of something is really masterful, getting clued in on the plot point isn't the worst thing in the world. The craft of the thing is going to stick with you longer than knowing the plot points.

++ I Spoiled Mass Effect 2 for myself (but not for you), and I kind of regret it.- So all that said, I have found myself spoiled from (and other wise delighted) by the excess of Mass Effect 2 coverage here and abroad. I've got a pretty good idea how the final mission goes down, but I've been able to soak in some interesting conversation about what Mass Effect 2 is really doing with its revamped and stripped RPG systems. Being party to that general discussion has mostly been worth the spoiling.

The worst bit of spoiling, though, I did of my own stupid accord: I looked up someone's "right" way to go about the last mission. More than anything else, that's kind of tainted my approach and frankly my opinions on some characters. I most likely would have made similar missteps as Anthony, had I not checked a very direct faqs-style page on the subject. More than know what happens or could happen, or how it can happen, knowing exactly what will work kind of busts my expectations of the final mission that I haven't yet arrived at.

I'll still enjoy it, I reckon. But I've kinda tagged myself for the mechanical strategy of the situation, for better or worse.



++ Ideas realized, and possibilities abound- Playing Mass Effect 2 has really got me excited about the potential for games, as a medium in the right hands, to tell a great story about a squad of people. I've written a bit before about dreams of squad based games, past and non-existent. Mass Effect 2, from the conversations i've read and heard, is RIGHT THERE with regards to the type of smart and entertaining squaddie based gameplay/narrative. So far, its been perfect with regards to pushing that substance beyond the mechanical conventions of gameplay. Inventory management, travel, "grinding" et al are taking a very nice back seat to meaningful character progression.

You know what I'd really want to see from BioWare? A remake of Seven Samurai. Like, a really direct adaptation. Make it only a few hours. Fine. But still pack in the key beats from the movie. Who are your team members? Who's doing what? Who's training who? Who guards where? What's your strategy for this one situation? Make it all about executing a story where there game is your preparation and potential for execution, while driving the interpersonal stuff with your decisions. Not many people want that experience exactly (Samurai fiction is way niche, amirite?), but I think BioWare could pull off a great short-form, 4 or 5 hour epic with the ideas they've started into with Mass Effect 2.



++ Open World Free Running- Nick Chester tweeted about wanting an open world free running game. If I wasn't really digging into actually playing games, I was thinking about throwing together a great "What-If" scenario article about Rockstar making the next theoretical Mirror's Edge a few days ago. Might still. But clearly that's an idea just swimming around in the collective consciousness lately.[b]